Weekly News Roundup

A wind of BP’s Texas green plan
Big oil BP is at its full speed in the construction of its second wind farm in Texas. The first phase of the project is expected to come on line in the second half of 2008 with a capacity of 150 megawatts.

VW’s secret diet is DuPont
Volkswagen’s steel-based exhaust system parts has been replaced by DuPont’s Zytel nylon resin cutting the weight of the component by almost 50%. The lighter weight car is said to consume less fuel and has lower emissions.

DuPont’s Titanium savings
Another green news from DuPont is its $100m+ energy savings from its titanium dioxide production. DuPont said they continuously track down every possible ways to reduce energy use and so far has cut down consumption per pound of product by 30%.

A bag of green coal from ADA
ADA-ES said it is finally able to reduce mercury emissions in coal-fired power plants by greater than 90% using its chemically treated activated carbon. ADA forecasts US demand for mercury control sorbents to increase to over 150m pounds/year in 2009.

And in solar news….Abengoa is building what could be the world’s largest solar plant in Arizona if it is in operation today. That title could change by the time the plant is in operation in 2011. Spain-based Ibersolar Energia is distributing Canada-based ICP Solar’s range of Sunsei products across Europe, while Honeywell has been contracted by Portland, Oregon-based Lewis & Clark College to install solar panels in the school’s sports center rooftop to be completed by August. The school says it expects to save at least $200,000 in energy cost for the next 20 years.